Another Girl Suspended for Headscarf

Published 8:00 pm, Monday, February 4, 2002

A second Muslim girl has been suspended from school for wearing a traditional Islamic headscarf in defiance of Singapore's secular government.

Siti Farziwah, 7, was the second girl expelled in the standoff between Muslim parents and the government. Nurul Hasihah, also 7, was suspended from White Sands Primary School on Monday.

The Ministry of Environment said the girls could return to school if they stopped wearing a headscarf, which is called "tudung" in Singapore.

A third girl, Khairah Faroukh, was told she also must comply with the school ban on the scarf by Feb. 11 or she, too, would not be allowed to attend classes. A fourth girl who wore a headscarf to the school in January is now being taught at home, officials said.

Many Muslim women wear a tudung to work, and no laws prevent them from doing so. However, the government says school uniforms bring children together and that Islamic headscarves underscore ethnic differences.

Almost 80 percent of Singaporeans are ethnic Chinese. Malays, who are predominantly Muslims, account for about 15 percent and Indians make up most of the rest.

Race relations in Singapore have come to the forefront since the arrest Dec. 13 of more than a dozen Muslims suspected of plotting to blow up Western targets.

Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong said Saturday that some Singaporeans had unjustifiably become suspicious of Islam since the arrests. Schools are a place where children can mix without regard to race or religion, he said.

Racial and religious riots wracked Singapore in the 1950s and 1960s. Avoiding racial and religious tension has been a cornerstone of government policy ever since.